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Add to FavoritesRobert Mugabe attends UN summit
Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe is attending the United Nation's Food summit in Rome this week.The summit which begins on Tuesday June 3rd will bring all political leaders around world together.However the presence of Zimbabwe's political pioneer Robert Mugabe is a matter of great concern to the world leaders attending the Rome summit.Robert Mugabe and his entire cabinet ministers are ban from traveling to all the countries within the European Union due to his abusive human rights record.Now the question should president Robert Mugabe attend the United Nations Food summit in Rome is a question which the west has tried to ask but has no choice but to just let ''sleeping dogs lie''.as the proverb says.President Robert Mugabe should attend this summit because the sanctions and the travel ban against him cannot apply here because the United Nations is the forum for the meeting.
President Robert Mugabe attending the UN Food summit will raise many eyebrows not only in Rome but also across the globe.It will mark the first visit to Europe by Mr. Mugabe since his party lost the majority in the parliamentary election held late March.The presidential election which the opposition has claimed to have won will be forced into a run-off on 27 June against Morgan Tsvangirai the leader of the Movement of Democratic Change[MDC].The EU,US,and Uk are all against Robert Mugabe's Human rights record including the way he manages the economy of Zimbabwe.The West belief Robert Mugabe is using the food aid to Zimbabwe in a politically motivated way.Many leaders attending the summit especially those from the UK are outraged at Mr. Mugabe's presence.Some leaders and Representatives opt out in any attempt to shake hands with Mr. Mugabe or meeting him personally
The sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe due to the continues iron-grip rule of Robert Mugabe and his human rights abuses has continue to slump Zimbabwe's economy.The inflation is running at an annual rate of 165,000%.The most saddest part of all is, only one in five adults in Zimbabwe has a regular job.So the west that will be glade to see President Robert Mugabe resign has no interest in seeing him at the UN Food summit currently going on in the Rome.
Mr. Mugabe's presence will also force many to recall a similar stir made by the Zimbabwean leader in Rome in 2005 when he denounced the former UK priminister Tony Blair and the US president George W Bush as ''unholy men''.He continue accusing the West as ''foisting food''on the Zimbabwean people.So it should not be another surprise when the lion hearted Robert Mugabe utters anything similar or worst.When Zimbabwe gained its independence in 1980,it was a wonderment of joy for the entire African continent but no one in Africa at that ever predicted that Zimbabwe will be the way it is today.Poverty,severe human rights abuse,poor economy and above all killings and jailing of political opponents and journalists has turn the one time paradise on earth to the worst country in Africa.This summit will help the world leaders to speak of their minds of the political instability in Zimbabwe and give Mugabe advices to step down for the good of the Zimbabwean people.Until the end of the summit president Robert Mugabe as he has promised will not be down trodden by the so call power of the west.
Learn more about this author, Karamo Nimaga.
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I do not think he should have been invited to the UN Food Summit to begin with.Maybe it all depends on the criteria which is used to invite delegates but I do not see which one Robert Mugabe fits now.Right now he is not elected by democratic means of the people of his country and therefore does not have a voice to speak on behalf of the people.Let alone if he cared about his people who have stood loyal to him for almost this long.
We have it on record that he has used force and brutality to displace the farmers who had been at the forefront cultivating the land.There is nothing Mugabe is interested in other than pointing a finger of blame.When the opportunity to be at the summit was presented to him, he took it with open hands and without hesitation.Right now he is displacing people from their homes if at all are left alive.By the militia who are paid to kill anyone perceived to be of the opposition.This a gross human rights violation.
Mugabe should not have been invited at all costs and means.The number of people who safeguards him is another indication that he is out of touch with reality.Now the winter wheat planting has been severely disrupted by the so called war veterans.All this is happening under Mugabe's nose.For him to stand up at the summit and say we are open to ideas on how to improve food production is undermining people's intelligence.
On this basis the invitation should have been extended to those actively engaged in Food production although they might not be country leaders in the case of Zimbabwe.Mugabe has passed his prime and this is open for everyone to see.Over the past few years all Mugabe and his delegation always delivers by being at large gatherings with other nations.Was dosing off and use his allocated time to lash out an offensive on the West.He is good at giving an analysis of why he thinks is he is right.You can not fight wrong with wrong.
During the delayed Presidential result announcement period, he through his loyal military wing ordered ammunition to slaughter his people.There is no war at the moment and the military deployed in the countryside is evidence of the fact. I do not think he cares about the welfare of his people.If otherwise he could not have bought guns and bullets instead of food or Agricultural implements.The use of his party issuing food aid to the poor and hungry is a violation to human rights.
With all due respect to the authorities who practice democracy,Robert Mugabe should have not been allowed at the Food Summit.The land reforms he says was meant to empower and distribute wealth.Only achieved one thing that is transferring the land from commercial white farmers to his close circle of loyalists.There is no production at most farms thus rendering continued food shortages and heavy dependence on imports.He is not lifting a finger to correct the wrong policies he orchestrated.Althoug h it was wrongly implemented but at least do the right thing so the people of Zimbabwe benefit.
Mugabe's policies have failed him dismally and most people do not want to hear a word that comes out of his mouth.This is no exception at the UN Food Summit most people found their way out when he took the podium to address the gathering.So it is a view shared by the delegates at the summit and the whole world that he should not have attended.
Learn more about this author, Sibusisiwe Musevenzi.
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